Italian based film production company, Taodue, is taking an 11-year-old Kenyan boy Nassor Said into the hall of fame after handpicking him to feature in their Sh2 Billion budget movie.
Nassor Said Birya, a Class Four pupil at Mambrui Primary who hails from Magarini constituency, Kilifi County was selected as the main supporting actor in the movie dubbed Tolo Tolo a comic drama film, that will be released on December 25, 2019.
His innate talent earned him an exciting role in the Movie after he was scouted by Antonio De Feo, the Tolo Tolo movie’s Executive Director in December 2018. Nassor who is currently in Morocco, shooting the second part of the movie will feature alongside prominent Italian actor Checco Zalone who is also a musician, singer-songwriter, imitator, comedian, and screenwriter.
De Feo revealed that the ‘Tolo Tolo’ title of the movie was derived from a statement made by Said while swimming at River Sabaki.
“The Italian movie star said everyone must dive solo solo, an Italian word that means alone, but the boy shouted ‘Tolo Tolo’, and that is how the title was developed,” he said.
The movie is expected to put Malindi and Kilifi county in particular in the limelight as a tourism hub, and to open up more opportunities in the film industry, after the location manager chose Kenya over Senegal.
“The script was original to be shot in Senegal, but the producer asked to see if we could shoot the film in Kenya. I showed them around Malindi and after only two weeks of scouting, it was agreed the film will be shot in Malindi, ” he said
Tolotolo will change Said’s life as his education to university would be catered for and payments for the role he played in the will be made and kept safe until he is grown up said the producer. The comedy movie is expected to generate over $65 million (Sh6.5 billion) on the day it will be aired in Italy.
Said was among the cast of about 130 artists and crew drawn from Italy, which include 60 Kenyans